Valentine's Day
by Atlantis1
Summary: Nikita has a new lover, much to the disaproval of Michael. Or is it just another game of the Section?


Valentine's Day

****

VALENTINE'S DAY

By Atlantis (naughtism@yahoo.com) 1998. 

*** I'm sorry in advance for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes I might have in any of my fictions. I tried my best, but since I'm not an english speaker, I might have some that I haven't noticed. 

*** I wrote this story in 1998, during Season 2, a lot of things changed since!!!

*** I have no copyrights on the characters.   
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Smells wonderful". Birkoff said smiling and walked inside the apartment. 

"Yeah, well I hope you didn't spoil your appetite with junk food." Nikita pointed her finger at him, as she let him walk in. 

"No, he behaved, sugar, I watched him myself". Walter was sitting on her couch. Nikita smiled. 

"It's so good to have you two for dinner. You've never been to my apartment before". 

"Oh, You know you've just had to snap your fingers, sugar". Walter smiled. It's been a while since Belinda's death. Birkoff and Nikita both were worried about him, but he seemed to recover, at least they thought so. 

They talked for a while, about almost anything besides the Section. They felt normal that evening. 

"Dinner was great, did you cook it?" Birkoff asked, licking his fingers. 

"No, I ordered". Nikita patted his shoulder. 

"So, how about a little walk?" Walter offered. 

"I can't. I should go back and check if everything's all right. You know you can never leave these people alone there with my stuff. One time I went out and..." 

"Birkoff, shut up". Nikita cut him off. "You should loosen up a little, and burn some calories, if you want me to let you eat more cookies". 

Birkoff sighed. "Okay... Mom". He mocked her. 

Both of the men helped Nikita clean the table, and put on their coats. 

"Whose idea was it to go for a walk in a temperature below zero?" Birkoff complained. 

"Oh, geez, you little whiny". Nikita teased him and pushed him aside a little. 

He stopped walking. "Hey Niki..." He called out. She turned around and got a snowball at her chest. "You're not a very good shot!" She said as she grabbed one herself and threw it at him. They started a snow war and Walter joined. They were happy, cold and soaking wet.   
They didn't even hear the ring of a cell phone until it fell on the snowy ground. 

"It's mine". Birkoff's face turned serious again. Walter and Nikita reached out for their own cell phones. Walter's was ringing too. 

"I need to go back". 

"Me too". 

They both turned to look at Nikita. "Don't worry, I'll find my way back". She smiled. 

"It was a great evening, Nikita". 

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've had so much fun". Walter said. 

They left her in the park looking after them. She wondered when she would be called in. She never knew how long it took to put on a mission and assemble the cold ops. Actually, when she thought about it, she already had down time for almost two weeks. She tried to think of a mistake she has done in her last mission that might get her into the abeyance group without her knowledge.   
There was a time, after Adrian was taken away, that she thought she's going to be cancelled, but instead she got called in, and they seemed to upgrade her status and send her on more frequented missions. Then came the quiet period. She hasn't heard from Section. It scared her. 

Michael on the other hand seemed busy. Walter told her it was now his 3rd day of a mission in Peru. And even before that, she couldn't reach him. He didn't call her, or visited her. Birkoff said he's been tied with missions. 

Nikita was so immersed in her thoughts, she jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder gently, she was ready to knock whoever this is down. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you". Nikita looked at the handsome young man that stood in front of her. "Are you all right?" He asked softly. She nodded slightly, unable to take her eyes off his face. 

"What are you doing here in such a cold night alone?" He asked quietly. She smiled. 

"I... was just... I wanted some fresh air..." She murmured. 

"Oh, me too. It's a great night isn't it?" He asked, his eyes shimmering. 

"Yeah it is". She smiled again, still unable to look away. 

"I'm Russell". He offered his gloved hand and she shook it. "Nikita". He smiled. 

"So... wanna walk with me?" He asked. "Sure". 

"Are you cold?" He asked her. "It's okay". She said. She felt embarrassed of her weird attraction to a complete stranger. She thought of Michael and smiled bitterly. In a way, Michael was no better than a stranger. 

She talked with Russell and found out he's not just good looking, but also intelligent.   
She enjoyed talking with him. 

"I'm between jobs". She answered unwillingly. 

"That's okay, you'll find something you like. It took me some time and millions of other jobs to finally land where I am now". 

She didn't notice how the time passed, she shivered. 

"You should go home now, Nikita. You're totally wet and you'll catch a cold". He said and took off his coat. "No, that's okay. You should wear it". She refused the gentlemanly offer. 

"Come tomorrow to dinner with me?" He asked in a soft voice. She was caught in his magic and was only able to nod. 

Nikita took a hot shower, her mind was full of thoughts about this new man she met.   
But when sleep came, it was Michael invading her dreams the way he has for so long and so many times. 

It was noon already when Nikita woke up. She glanced at her dead phone and turned it to check if it's working, in case she gets a call. Surprisingly, she already wished she would.   
The thoughts of abeyance came again and she couldn't ease her mind. 

While she was eating lunch, the phone rang. Nikita jumped, waiting to hear the soft french accent-- "Josephine", but as she picked up the phone she only heard-- 

"Nikita?" 

She sighed. "Yeah it's me". 

"I just wanted to check if we are still on tonight". 

"Of course". 

"I'll pick you at eight? Is that all right with you?" 

"Yup". 

She hanged up the phone and sighed again. "Michael, where are you?" She whispered.   
She got into the shower and let the water wash all her worries off, at least for a while.   
She was already sorry she made that date with this stranger. She already experienced once the consequences of having a relationship with an innocent.   
And Michael... she missed him, it was almost two weeks since she's last seen him.   
What would he think? and why isn't he contacting her? was he still on that mission in Peru? 

A few minutes before eight o'clock, Nikita picked up the phone and decided to call Russell and cancel the dinner, she heard a knock on her door, and when she looked at him, all the thoughts about right and wrong and cancellation were gone. He was a god.   
He stood there in a dark blue blazer and a black shirt. He was tall, short brown hair with short little curls and shiny green eyes. 

He smiled widely. "You look so beautiful". 

She blushed. "Actually, I was thinking the same about you". 

"It was dark last night, couldn't see exactly how beautiful you are". 

She laughed shyly, and they headed for dinner. Nikita saw a shadow slipping away, and turned her head hoping to see it was Michael. She only saw a few people sitting on a bench. 

"So where are we going?" Her full attention was back with the man beside her. 

"My car is right there..." He murmured. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Michael finished his debriefing and sank tired into his chair. He had reports to finish, and just got new intel for another mission. He sighed. He had so much pressure lately, it seems that everyone had their missions transferred to him, no down time, only going from mission to mission. He could hardly remember the last time he spent in his apartment.   
He wondered if Nikita was out on a mission, he hasn't heard from her in a while and they weren't on any mission together.   
He looked at the papers in front of him, and got up. 

"Birkoff, do you know where Nikita is?" Michael approached Birkoff from behind and surprised him. "Uh... maybe at home". 

"She's not on a mission?" 

"No, she had a lot of down time recently". Birkoff said and reached for another cookie, not taking hieyes off his monitor. 

Michael walked away, heading out. "Michael". Operations stopped him at the south exit hall.   
Michael turned around. 

"Where are you going?" 

"Grab something to eat". 

"Did you finish all your reports?" Operations asked in a hard voice. 

"Not yet". 

"You should. We are getting new intel all the time". 

'Am I the only operative in the Section?' Michael thought to himself. As if Operations read his mind, he said- 

"I understand you are working overtime. I'm under a lot of pressure too, but you've been here long enough to understand there are rough times. We are lacking man power and team leaders, and we need more from you". Michael feared that Operations didn't finish his lecture, only took a breath. "I want you to finish the reports and get ready for the mission in Zaire".   
Michael nodded slightly and returned to his office. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita woke up early and got ready for her morning run, which she neglected for a few days.   
She was surprised to run into Russell in the park, running. 

"I should've guessed you do something to keep yourself in such a great shape". He smiled and approached her. "You're not so bad yourself". She pushed him aside and kept running beside him. 

"So you go out for a run every morning?" He asked after a moment of silence. 

"I try". 

Michael watched Nikita running with the handsome young man. He wanted to take a glimpse look at her before he had to go out for another mission. He wanted to talk to her, but instead stood in the shadows and watched her giggles and exchange smiles with this man as they ran.   
When they stopped, the man kissed her briefly on the cheek and continued his run. Nikita headed to her apartment. His cell phone rang. He had to go back, he took one last glance at her as she disappeared in her building and walked away. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita took a shower and then sat to eat breakfast. She looked at her watch and then at her phone. Still no mission and she was getting suspicious. She picked up her coat and went out. 

"Hey Birkoff". Nikita came closer to Birkoff, he looked serious and didn't even raised his head. 

"What's up?" She sat on his desk. 

"I'm very busy, I'm sorry". He murmured. 

"Mission?" 

"We are drowning in missions! so much work..." He muttered. 

"Really?" He didn't raise his head, so he couldn't see her worried face. 

"Did Michael came back?" 

"Come and gone". 

"What do you mean?" 

"He left an hour ago to Zaire. He only came yesterday from Peru". 

Operations looked down from his office. He saw Nikita talking with Birkoff. He stroked his chin and look at the two of them. He wondered why she came. 

"What are you doing here?" Nikita turned around and saw Operations gazing at her. 

"I just dropped by to see what's going on. I haven't been called in for quite some time". 

"We don't need you for now". He said. 

"I heard there is a rough time here". 

"If we needed you, we would have contact you". 

"Am I on abeyance?" She dared to ask. 

He stared at her and chuckled. "No". 

"And if I were you wouldn't tell me". 

"Of course not". 

Nikita smirked. "Guess I'll wait till I get my call". 

Operations nodded. "Thought you'd enjoy your down time". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Hi Walter". Nikita smiled at the old man, who looked older now and tired. 

"Hi sugar". He managed to curve his lips into a smile. 

"What's up? you look exhausted". 

"I'm a bit worked up". He admitted. 

"Seems like everyone is busy except me". She sighed and looked away. Something caught her eye in the training area. She left Walter and went there. 

She watched him in disbelief. "Russell?" 

He turned around and looked at her surprised. He took off his boxing gloves. 

"Nikita!" He smiled, but she sensed his smile wasn't honest. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Working out". 

"You are an operative". 

"Yeah... you don't know what a relief it is to find out you are too". He said. 

She looked at him suspiciously. "Are you on a mission?" He asked. "No... are you?" 

"Nope. How about working out with me?" He offered in a bright smile. She couldn't resist his smile and took off her shoes, stepping forward. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"What was Nikita doing here? I thought you said you'd keep her away from the headquarters".   
Russell folded his arms, facing Operations. 

"She came by surprise". 

"Now she knows I'm a Section Op. She's suspicious". 

"Doesn't matter. You must continue as planned". 

"It will be harder, now that I can't pull out the innocent roll". 

"You're a valentine op, you do what you have to do". 

"She will be mine. I'll succeed". 

"Good, because failure is not an option. Now, Nikita is a good operative, and we need more manpower. I'll have to use her, now that she knows you're an op it doesn't matter anymore". 

"Don't assign her to Michael. It will draw her backwards". 

"Don't worry. You're dismissed". 

Russell left Operations' office. "Russell Burke". Operations smiled to himself.   
This plan has been on his mind for a while now. Russell would be used to crush Nikita's emotions, his little payback. And that mission will keep him away from Madeline, who he seemed to hang around with a lot lately. At the end he wanted to remove Russell completely from the way. Michael will seek to it, once Nikita will be in danger.   
Everything worked as planed so far. Operations headed to Madeline's office. Only the hard schedule of the recent missions weighted on him that moment. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita was charmed by Russell's interest in her. 

"You know, I heard a lot about that operative named Nikita, but I couldn't believe it was this innocent woman I ran into in the park". He told her one evening, while they were having dinner in his apartment. 

"Really? what exactly did you hear?" She rested her chin on her hands and looked at him smiling. 

"That you are a rebel, compassionate, beautiful..." He stared at her. "But I see you're even more beautiful than I thought". 

She blushed, smiled slightly uncomfortable, and lowered her gaze. 

"There are also rumors that there's something between you and Michael". 

"You know Michael?" She raised her eyes. 

"Everybody knows him, his one of the best cold ops". He looked at her, they both were silent for a minute. "I need to know if there's a room for me in your life". He took her hand and caressed her gently. "Hmmm... there could be..." She said quietly, she felt like she's been there before, an image of Jurgen came to her mind. "Are you all right?" Russell looked concerned. 

"Yeah, I'm fine". 

"You seem disturbed. Did I say something wrong?" 

"No. Just old memories of a friend I... lost". Nikita hesitated. 

"Look, I don't want to scare you. I'm happy that you are also an operative, that way I can be honest with you every time I go out on a mission". He said. 

"What does Section know about honesty?" She said in a bitter grin. 

"I'm not Section. I'm Russell Burke". He said, smiling. 

"How did you get into Section?" 

"I was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing my father. I died in prison. Suicide". 

"Why did you kill your father?" Nikita couldn't help it, she was curious. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be nosy". She said right away. 

"It's okay. I told you I'd be honest with you. My father was a piece of shit. Alcoholic son of a bitch. He abused my mother and my sisters... and me". He said slowly and looked at her. 

His expression of pain touched Nikita, and she felt her stomach scramble. She remembered all the beating she had received from her mother and her mother's boyfriends. The memories surfaced and she wanted to shrug them off.   
When Russell walked Nikita to her place, he leaned down and kissed her softly on her lips. Her immediate response was to back off. 

"I'm sorry". She said. 

"It's okay, we can be just friends. Will you run with me tomorrow morning, Nikita?" He asked and looked deeply into her eyes. "Sure". She smiled and watched him go. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

The phone finally rang, Nikita walked out of the shower, drying herself up, looking at the machine that came back to life. She didn't think it was Russell since she's just met him and ran with him in the park. 

"Hello?" She finally picked up the phone. 

"Josephine". She heard Michael's voice. She's never thought she'd be so happy to hear her codename. She wanted so much to talk to Michael, see how he was, it's been over two weeks and she missed him. 

"I'll be right there". She managed to say. She knew he wouldn't talk to her. Not on the phone. Not in the briefing. 

Nikita came in and looked at the briefing room, several operatives were already there, but no sign of Michael.   
Her legs led her to his office, but it was empty, except for a half empty cup of coffee and a few blank papers on the desk. 

She recognized only two out of the seven members of her team, even with that, none of them were operatives she's ever been with on missions. She feared they might be on abeyance.   
"Where's Michael?" She asked Darren, one of the operatives she knew. 

"He's not on this mission". He said. Nikita nodded and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. 

"But he returned from Zaire?" 

"Yeah, I think his new mission is loading now". Darren mentioned. 

Nikita walked fast to the van access. Michael was there in the corridor, waiting for his team members to enter. 

"Michael!" She reached him. He looked at her. "Why aren't you in the briefing?" He asked. 

"Why am I not with your team? I've never been with these people before". Nikita ignored his question. 

"They decided you suit better for that mission". Michael was calm, he looked behind her shoulder to see the last member of his team approaching. 

"I have to go, and so are you". He added. 

"Michael, am I going on a suicide mission?" She dared to ask finally. He gazed at her, his face blank. 

"I haven't heard anything about a suicide mission". 

"I didn't get a call in for over 2 weeks, ever since our last mission together". She said. 

"Don't worry, it's just a mission". He managed to control himself and tried not to touch her. 

"Go". He whispered and got inside the van. 

Nikita returned to the briefing room. Operations was already there and gave her a hard look but didn't say a word. 

Michael sat next to Birkoff after giving a few reminders of the briefing to his team.   
The fact that Birkoff was with him and not monitoring the other missions in the Comm area also annoyed Michael. He feared Operations and Madeline put Nikita into abeyance again. She performed well on her missions, but they were still not completely approved with other factors of her behavior. 

"Birkoff, who's observing the other missions... from Comm?" 

"We have there almost all our people. There are way too many missions going on at once to handle. We never had anything like this". 

"Is there an abeyance team operating?" 

"No. They can't handle a suicide mission right now, they are waiting for things to calm down. You could think all our enemies have allied against us, many are operating at the same time..." 

"Okay, thank you". Michael hushed him down. He's already heard what he wanted to hear. He still didn't like the fact that Nikita was taken from his team, he never felt calm when he knew she's on a mission alone, when he was unable to protect her if necessary, when he wasn't in control. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"My feet hurts". Nikita complained and took off her shoes. 

"How about a feet massage?" Russell offered and winked at her. She laughed. He grabbed her legs and put them on the sofa, Nikita groaned as she gave herself to his magical fingers work. 

"You are so good!" 

"Always at your service". He sat next to her. He lowered his head and moved closer. Nikita closed her eyes and waited. She felt his warm breath. Then they heard a knock on the door.   
She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry, I have to get this". She apologized and walked to the door. 

"Michael". She somehow was not surprised. 

"I've just came back from the mission, and thought I'd check on you". 

She smiled. "Everything's fine". 

"May I come in?" He asked quietly. Nikita bit her lips. "Sure..." She said finally and opened the door. Michael saw her uneasy smile. "Is that a bad time?" Then he saw Russell. The man that ran with her in the park a few days ago. 

"Maybe I should leave you two alone". He said and smiled briefly at Russell who returned a smile. "Having some down time, Michael?" Russell asked and Michael looked at him surprised. 

"He's an operative". Nikita was still at the door. 

"Really". Michael's tone was low and calm as usual. 

He turned around and walked away from there, not saying a word. Nikita closed the door. 

"That... was Michael". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Birkoff, I need you to access an operative file for me". Michael stood above Birkoff in the Comm area. Section was finally over its tough hour and things returned to normal and to a lower speed, and Birkoff was finally able to play his computer games. 

"Can I do this later, Michael? I really want to finish this le..." 

"Now, Birkoff, or I'll pull out the plug". Michael leaned down. 

"Okay, okay". Birkoff gave up and saved his game. 

"What do you need?" 

"An operative, hanging out with Nikita lately". 

"Oh you mean Russell, they are spending a lot of time together lately". Birkoff donated intel, not knowing it was not something Michael wanted to hear. 

"Show me his file". 

"He's a valentine op". Birkoff mentioned as he clicked on his keyboard. "What is he doing with Nikita?" 

"There you go". Birkoff smiled and let Michael look at the screen. 

"A true valentine op indeed. Somehow it looks familiar... as if..." Birkoff murmured to himself. "I think I've seen this file before". 

"Try and see his current missions". Michael ordered. 

Birkoff typed something. "There. Um, no recent missions except this one, and it's classified. Operations' code, I can't go further". 

Michael brushed his lips, and looked at Russell's picture. Could he be sent to seduce Nikita? for what purpose? Michael was determined to find out. He knew the valentine ops section, and he knew how they worked and manipulated, he himself received a partly training in the past, a long time ago. He knew even the strong willed Nikita wouldn't hold long to this op's "magic", and she'd be hurt and abused and he wasn't gonna let that happen. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Michael raised his head from his laptop and stared at the window. He couldn't concentrate on his reports, he saw Nikita walking in the passage. He stood up and watched her walking away, not even looking at his direction. 

"Nikita, wait". He got out and went after her. She turned around. "Hi Michael", She smiled.   
"What are you doing here?" He asked quietly. "Work out".   
He nodded. "I got a bit down time, I thought maybe we could..." 

"Nikita," Russell stood behind her and she turned away from Michael. "There you are". 

"Hi Russell", She smiled slightly. "Are you busy now? wanna grab something to eat?" 

"Sure..." She turned to face Michael. "What were you saying?" 

Michael looked at her, "Nothing, I have reports to finish". He turned to walk away. 

"I thought you had down time..." She looked at his blank face, confused. He just walked back into his office. 

Nikita looked at Russell, "Would you mind if we delay this to later?"   
Russell gazed at the floor. "I'd prefer go out now, but if you're busy..." 

"How about this evening?" 

Russell smiled. "It's a date". Nikita smiled back and walked inside Michael's office. 

"I thought you were going out". Michael didn't raise his head. 

"I'll go out with him later, I'm not really hungry right now". 

"I see". 

"So what's going on?" She tried to catch his attention and pressed her shoulder against the wall. "Why are you hanging out with this guy?" He asked finally. Nikita let a little sigh to escape and smiled. "He's nice, I like hanging out with him". 

"He's dangerous". 

"Is he?" Nikita chuckled. "You'd say that about anyone". 

"He's not who he seems to be, you should know that by now". 

"And what about you? Are ywho you seem to be?" 

Michael just stared at her blankly. 

"Look, Michael, I hang out with him cause he's nice. I didn't even meet him at the Section". She sat on the chair. 

"And you think this is coincidence?" The calm somewhat cold expression never left his face. 

"You are paranoid". She got up and turned to leave. 

"You have to be paranoid in this place". 

She folded her arms. "I disagree". 

"Russell is not a cold op, Nikita. He's a valentine op". Michael said quietly. 

"What?" 

"Look at his file". Michael motioned the screen with his head. 

"I don't need to. I somehow find all of this familiar". She gazed at him. "Oh yes, you said some things about Jurgen, then you admitted you lied". 

Michael sighed and got up. "That was different". 

"Really? I fail to see the difference". And with that she left his office, leaving him gazing at the spot where she was standing a few seconds ago. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Hi Walter". Nikita smiled as she approached Walter who was busy working on one of his projects. "Hi sugar, what's up?" He raised his head briefly to smile at her and lowered it back. 

"Nothing... just wondering". 

"Wondering is good... I prefer fantasize though". 

"Walter... do you know an op named Russell?" Nikita leaned besides him. 

"A few". 

"Michael told me he's a valentine op". Walter stared at her. "Oh... that Russell". 

"So you know him?" 

"Guess so". 

"So he is a valentine op?" 

"Yeah... why?" 

"What is exactly a valentine op?" 

"You wouldn't wanna get caught by one of them. They're dangerous". 

"Meaning?" 

"They get what they want, what Section wants, by seducing people, and they are good at it". 

"Sex?" 

"Sex is their main mean". Walter smiled. "Those girls are sirens!" 

"I did some seducing jobs". Nikita looked at him confused. "So did Michael". 

"The valentine ops operate on a whole other level sugar. They receive different training than cold ops". 

"So if I encounter one, I shouldn't put too much trust on him, huh?" 

"That's right about any other operative here, sugar". 

"Thanks Walter". Nikita leaned over and kissed his cheek, he smiled and continued to work. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

The wind blew softly in her hair. Nikita sat in her balcony, enjoying a warm afternoon. She closed her eyes and let the book slip from her hand.   
She opened her eyes when she heard a knock on her door, she sighed and went to open it. 

"Hi Russell", She smiled lightly. Deep inside she hoped it would be Michael coming to see her, but she knew he wouldn't come. Not after their words exchange. 

"Are you busy?" He asked. "Not really..." 

"What's wrong?" He touched her cheek softly, she winced. "I heard you're a valentine op". 

"Did Michael tell you that?" He gazed at the floor. 

"Why didn't you mention it?" Her voice was hard. 

"Because... I thought you might back off". He didn't lower his eyes. "When you know my work includes other women". 

"How would I know you're not just manipulating me?" She put her hands on her waist and gave him a harsh look. 

"You're not like any other woman, Nikita. You're not a mission, I didn't even know you were an operative when I saw you". 

"You could pretend you didn't know". 

"If you have any doubt, just ask me to leave. I will not bleep. Just give me a chance?" He looked at her. 

"How many women fell for you?" 

He looked at her uncomfortable. 

"I don't want to know". She said and bit her lips. "I think you better leave". 

"If that's what you want. That's why I didn't tell you. I knew you'd be scared". 

"I just don't like the idea you are using women, crushing their hearts to get... whatever you get". 

"I don't have a choice, Nikita. That's my job, if I don't do it I die. Just like you have to shoot people for your job. You don't know valentine ops, so you dislike them, just like I disliked cold ops..." He met her eyes. "Until I met you". He walked towards the door, leaving her watching his back. 

"Russell, wait", She said after a moment. He stopped but didn't turn around. "Are we still going out tonight?" He turned around. "You sure you want to?" 

"I guess I could somehow separate you from your job". She said quietly. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"What's going on here?" Madeline asked when she walked into her office and found Operations standing there looking at her trees. 

"I just took care of your bonsai while you were away". Operations turned and smiled at her. 

"Thank you. Good job". She smiled slightly. 

"How was your seminar?" 

"It was okay. I didn't like some of the agency's new ideas". 

Operations looked at her, amused. "And did you get along with Deborah?" 

"She's learning. She's doing good in Section Five". 

"We missed you here, it's not the same without you". 

She smiled. "Do you know where Russell is? I haven't seen him". 

"Russell..." 

"Burke". 

"Oh," Operations nodded. "Must be with Nikita. They hang together a lot lately". He looked at her to see her reaction. 

"Really? interesting". Madeline's face remained cold. "Is there a problem?" He tried another way. 

"No. Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot of work and I need to catch up". She sat behind her desk. "Of course". Operations walked out of her office, a wide smile on his face. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Michael sat next to Birkoff in the Comm area and tried to focus on the screen. When he raised his head he saw again Nikita kick boxing in the practicing area. He watched as Russell joined her and kissed her cheek lightly. Watched them laugh together. 

"Michael?" Birkoff made him snap out of the daydream. 

"I'll be right back". Michael excused himself. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Yes, Michael?" Madeline raised her head when Michael entered her office. 

"What's going on?" He asked her, approaching her desk. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Why Nikita is not available for missions?" 

"But she is". 

"The computer says otherwise". 

"Weird". Madeline clicked on her keyboard and looked at the screen. 

"She's on a confidential mission. Must be highly classified if I weren't updated". Madeline stroked her chin. 

"But she wasn't on any mission for quite a while". 

"I'll take care of it, Michael". Madeline motioned at the door. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"They are getting suspicious". Russell hummed as he entered Operations' office. 

"How did it go with Nikita?" Operations ignored him. 

"Okay, but she's strong. She's still on a friendly term". 

"She'll fall in the end". 

"Yes". 

"Madeline thinks she's on blue alpha mission. That's the highest level operation. The only one She is not classified to access". Operations smirked. 

"I'll have to pull one now, and push Nikita in it. The funny thing is, I would have never allow her to go on this level. We only had two of that kind, during the cold war and desert storm". Operations hushed once he noticed he revealed more than he should have. 

"So... you're going to create a mission?" 

"I'll pull something up. That's all you need to know. Dismissed". 

Russell left the office, leaving Operations pondering behind. The entire plan got messy. Now he had to deceive everybody. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Sir, Nikita's waiting in your office". The operative's voice filled the space in Michael's office. 

"I'll be right there". Operations said quickly, and pointed out a few last marks on Michael's profile. 

"Madeline will run the briefing, I am needed elsewhere". He said briefly and left the room. Michael brushed his fingers over his lips quickly and gazed at the door. 

He knew "Valentino" was out on a mission, and wondered what mission Nikita was in and if it was a covert mission, like Madeline thought.   
He shook his head. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"You're going to lead a mission," Operations declared as he studied Nikita's surprised face. 

"Are you sure?" She didn't want to lead a mission, she couldn't forget the first time. 

"This is a special mission. I think you'the right person. It's a test we're putting you through... and another operative along", he looked at her. "Understand, there's not going to be a backup team, nor other members in the team. Just you and the other operative. He was early promoted to a cold op status, we want to check him out. This mission is highly classified. No one but you and me knows about it, and it must remain that way". He curved his lips to a small smile. "See you in the briefing in 10 minutes, it will take place here, in my office". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Michael watched Operations' office darkens, as a sign to a highly classified briefing taking place. He was on a blue alpha mission in 1991, but he's never thought Operations would choose Nikita to such a mission. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita was standing in Operations' office. Operations walked inside. "We'll start right away". 

"Didn't you say there's another operative?" She asked. 

"Yes... oh there he is!" 

Nikita looked at the operative. "Unbelievable!" She managed to say. 

"I think the two of you have met before". Operations said calmly. 

"Hello, Niki-ta". The operative pronounced her name slowly. 

She smiled slightly. "O'Brien". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

She didn't take her eyes off him the whole briefing.   
She couldn't believe it was him.   
It was almost the end of his two years training. He was strong and survived the hard sessions.   
She couldn't forget the events that brought him, innocent, to the Section. She blamed herself. After all, it was her fault. 

Marco O'Brien was an excellent detective and a fine cop. She messed up and he found out about her. His friend in the CIA was cancelled and he himself was brought to Section. Michael started the training because they needed a strong figure for him, since they knew he wouldn't be easy to train. After a few months, another operative replaced Michael since he was needed in many missions. 

"Nikita?" Operations brought back her attention to the briefing. 

"So, um... you're taking me to this mission?" O'Brien crossed his arms. 

"Yes, I think you suit best for this, and it's a chance to put you both on a test". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

O'Brien was driving. Nikita was sitting next to him. She hasn't said a word since they left the Section. 

"So.. What's up, Nikita?" He asked after a while. 

"Nothing... Just thinking". 

"I understand now why you acted the way you did, back then". He said. 

"I should have done things differently, and then you wouldn't have been here now". 

"The training were bad". He sighed. She looked at him, her eyes shimmer. 

"But I knew I had to pass, I had to survive". He said and she could hear the passion of life in his voice. It sounded familiar, it sounded like her. Was she that naive back then? She felt sorry for him. He was certain the hard part was behind him, not knowing it was only the beginning, the beginning of hell. 

"What?" He asked when he saw her face. She took her hand off the steering wheel to wipe her eyes. 

"I just thought I used to be like you, once upon a time". 

"Nothing wrong with that". 

"You'll learn". 

"I heard about you Nikita. You're not like the rest of them". 

"I used to think that too. But now... too much has happened since". 

Their chat was cut, when they arrived at the place where their hit was supposed to take place. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"It's empty!" O'Brien declared as he walked out of the bedroom, his gun still drawn. 

"Can't be, did you check everywhere?" Nikita approached him. 

"Yup. Unless they are playing hide and seek with us". He looked around him. The ranch was deserted. There wasn't a soul around there. Not even an animal. 

"That's weird. Be careful". She felt responsible in a way for his safety. 

"Shouldn't we contact the Section?" He asked and stepped outside. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Your priority has been downgraded." Operations informed Nikita. 

"So... can we go back?" 

"Yes". 

Nikita stared at O'Brien. 

"That's it?" He asked. 

"Yeah, lets go back. The place had been abandoned". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"I'm sorry, our intel wasn't updated". Operations apologized, when they both were back in his office, hours later. 

When they walked out of the room, Nikita saw Russell talking with Madeline. They laughed together. Then Russell saw her. He smiled at Madeline and excused himself. 

"Hey", He smiled at Nikita. 

"Hello". She said a bit uneasy. Madeline was staring at them. 

"Would you join me for a cup of coffee?" He asked. 

Nikita smiled. "No. I... I'm already going out with O'Brien". 

"You are?" O'Brien asked, he was standing behind him. 

She looked at him, curving her mouth. "Uh, yeah... forgot already?"   
She raised her eyebrows. 

"Oh yeah, yeah. Of course". He smiled at Russell. 

"All right. No problems. Some other time then". Russell smiled. 

"Sure". She smiled back and he left. 

"So what time shall I pick you up?" She heard O'Brien's voice.   
Nikita turned to face him. 

"No, it's okay, O'Brien, thanks for bailing me out". 

"Awww, a rejection", he held his hand on his heart. "Shot right to the heart". 

"I'm sorry". 

"So why didn't you go out with him, if I may ask?" 

"Other than the fact I'm really not in the mood, I don't trust him". Nikita curved her nose. 

"We can talk about it over dinner". 

She smiled and put on the sunglasses. "Nice try". 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita was sitting in her living room, reading a magazine. There was a knock on the door. She sighed and went to open it. 

"Hi". Russell smiled at her. 

"Hi". 

"May I come in?" He asked gently. She nodded and opened the door. 

"I was just making tea... if you'd like..." 

"Tea is great". He settled himself in her couch. 

"How was your date with that police guy?" He asked. 

"O'Brien? Nothing special... we're just friends". 

"Oh, and you made me all jealous..." He leaned over and put the hot mug on the table, then took Nikita's mug and did the same.   
He pulled her closer. 

"Russell..." She murmured and fell beside him. He smiled. 

"You are so beautiful", he leaned to kiss her and she backed off. 

"What's the problem?" He asked in a sensual whisper. 

"Nothing... just that..." She gazed at him. "What were you doing with Madeline?" 

"We were just chatting". He took his hands off her. 

"A very friendly chat". 

"We are good friends". 

"Oh please, spare me". She couldn't believe the ice queen had any friends. She thought about Operations and what Adrian said- Madeline and the young studs. 

"There's nothing between us, if that's what you think". He said. He held her palms together and looked into her eyes. 

"I love you, Nikita. I've never felt anything like it before. I'd hate to see it go away". He moved closer to her and kissed her lips softly. This time she gave in to his kiss and put her arms around his neck. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Operations watched Michael from his perch. Michael was down in the Comm area, working with Birkoff. He saw Michael raising his head, and looked at the direction too. Nikita and Russell walking together, looking very immersed at each other. He smiled to himself. 'well done' he thought. He couldn't see Michael's face, but he knew he was annoyed at the sight. Just the way Madeline was. She was standing near by too. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"Nikita", Nikita and Russell stopped as they heard Michael calls her name. They both turned around. 

"Yes?" She asked calmly. 

Michael held looks with Russell. "I need to talk to you alone in my office". Nikita looked at Russell, uncomfortable. "Now". He added. She nodded. "I'll see you later". Russell said and walked away.   
Nikita followed Michael to his office. 

"So... what is it?" She asked impatiently when he didn't say a word, just gazed at her. 

"How was your mission?" He asked softly. 

"Canc". She seemed annoyed. 

"Really". He stepped closer to her. She stared at him and they held looks. 

He sighed, went over to his desk and typed in the security code.   
He went back to her and brushed his hand over her cheek briefly. 

"I missed you". 

"Oh please Michael". She folded her arms. "What do you want?" 

"Just to see you". 

"Well, you did. Can I go now?" She turned towards the door. 

"Would you go out to dinner with me?" He asked, almost in one breath. 

She turned to him, surprised. "Are you asking me out?" 

"Yes". 

"I don't know". She folded her hands again. "What is it that you really want?" 

"Just dinner". He caressed her face softly. Nikita thought for a second. She softened when she looked into his eyes. 

"Okay. When?" 

"Tonight". 

She nodded and left his office. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

They sat in a fancy restaurant under the dim candles light.   
Nikita wore a long satin dark blue dress. Michael was in his elegant black. 

"I was thinking..." Michael said and sipped wine from his glass.   
She looked at him, waiting to hear the rest of his sentence. 

"That we should spend more time together". 

She stared at him. "What made you think that?" 

"You. I can't stand seeing you with others". 

"So you're seducing me?" 

"I want to be with you". 

She held a small smile and dipped it in her glass. 

"What?" He asked. 

"I don't know. You're so different suddenly". 

He took her hand and kissed the back of her palm. "Dance with me?" He asked. They got up and danced to the sounds of the slow soft music. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

"I think you should send Russell Burke to that mission". Madeline gazed at the computer monitor. Operations was standing above her. 

"There aren't many chances of survival in that mission. Are you sure?" He pointed out. 

"Yes. He suits best". 

Operations left her office and went over to the Comm area. 

"Birkoff". 

"Yes sir?" 

"What are the chances of coming back from Kazakhstan?" 

Birkoff clicked on his keyboard. "About 2 to 4 percents". 

"Good". Operations smiled. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita was lying in her bed. She was awake. She watched Michael sleeping next to her. He looked so calm. She only remembered watching him that way when he lost his memory, after being captured. Even then he looked somewhat troubled.   
She couldn't help herself and leaned to kiss him softly on his cheek. He woke up and looked at her. She smiled. 

"Good morning". She caressed his chest, still thinking of their lovemaking. It was the night she was waiting for for so long.   
How she could have felt any attraction to Russell? She felt disgusted. Michael stroke her hair gently. 

"I have to go". He said quietly. She sighed. He got off the bed and got dressed. "I'll see you later". He kissed her lips softly, unwilling to let go. She watched him leave. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita walked inside Section. She made her morning visit to Walter, then turned to Birkoff. 

"Hi Birkoff". She smiled at him. 

"Hi. Aren't you looking glamorous today?" He said and reached his morning snack. 

"Did you see Russell today?" She asked. It was time to say goodbye to Russell. Now that Michael was all hers. 

Birkoff looked at her uneasily. 

"What?" 

"He went on a mission in Kazakhstan. I don't think he'll make it back". He said unwillingly. Nikita's smile faded at once. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Nikita entered Michael's office. "Hi". She said. 

"Hello". His voice was cold. 

"Russell went on a suicide mission, didn't he?" She asked. 

Michael raised his head. "A high risk mission". 

She smirked. "So... what's now?" She asked. He looked at her with his usual bleak expression. 

"There's not going to be 'us' now that Russell is out of the picture, huh?" her voice trembled. He just stared at her. 

"I'm busy now". He said and returned his gaze to his laptop. 

"Fine. I knew it was another manipulation of yours. I was stupid enough to try and convince myself it wasn't. Just like all the rest of the women you've taken care of..." Her eyes filled with tears. 

Then she couldn't stand Michael's blank expression and left his office. Michael gazed at the door. 

'If only you knew...' he thought. 'If only I could tell you...'   
His face, full of emotions and pain, turned bleak again, as he forced himself to concentrate on his work.   


****

THE END

  



End file.
